© Crashtest Security

Crashtest Security Declares War on Hackers

Hacker attacks have become normality in our day and age. While companies certainly try to protect themselves as best as possible, sensitive vulnerabilities are found time and again. The Munich cybersecurity startup Crashtest Security offers automated safety tests to protect its customers from cyber attacks.

Developed by its Munich-based team, Crashtest Security Suite makes it possible to detect critical vulnerabilities in real time. The product is embedded in the agile software development cycle and intelligent automated scanning is triggered after every deployment, allowing the company to offer developers usable security, aka user-oriented IT security. With its intuitive interface, the software allows SMEs to actively incorporate cybersecurity into everyday business.

Experts at work: en route to a USP

It goes without saying that you have to be a professional when dealing with these types of complex topics. The founders Janosch Maier, René Milzarek and Daniel Schosser are IT security experts, while Felix Brombacher — the fourth member of the team — takes care of sales, finance and marketing.

The founders got to know one another while at college. The idea for Crashtest Security came from a project assignment. Felix, who already knew Janosch and Daniel, joined the team to assist with the economic side of things.

The concept of automated safety tests is indeed not new. That being said, Felix emphasized that their competitors’ products are extremely complex to configure and almost never used in development, meaning they are only employed after the software development process is complete.

“This causes significantly higher costs for debugging and can’t guarantee software with continuous security for each deployment. That is what our solution does differently. We also teach our scanner to recognize application logic processes, which it then uses to test that particular vulnerability. As soon as the technology is fully developed, we will be the only security provider on the market able to perform completely automated pen testing, with all of it made & hosted in Germany.”

How will you convince SMEs?

There are still some obstacles to overcome before that becomes an issue. Felix mentioned that a particular challenge is earning the trust of their target customers — German SMEs with their own software development — and selling them a product that is still in the development phase. Nevertheless, the Crashtest Security team is optimistic about the future. They have already started meeting with potential sales partners, and the sale of their product to other startups and software development agencies is going well.

“The perfect location”

Felix and the rest of the team are more than happy with the progress and development of their company. One of the factors they attribute it to is its location:

“Munich is the perfect location for us both in terms of business and free time. It gives us access to some of the best startup centers in Germany and also to leading industrial enterprises. The city also provides a lot of support on a personal level since we all have our social and family roots here. That means our friends and relatives are close by if we need a break.”

Until just recently, the company was focusing on their product’s market readiness. Now the product is available online, having been launched in September. Paying customers were already acquired beforehand. A round of financing is planned for the end of the year.